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The tattoo-covered, epithet-spewing Canadian rocker may not be a web-slinging superhero. But despite her penchant for rough language and raw content, Bif acknowledges she's a potential role model for a lot of listeners.
And that's not a job she takes lightly.
"When I started playing in bands 10 years ago, there wasn't a lot of girls (in rock 'n' roll)," she says. "And that forces you into a representational kind of attitude. . . . It makes you monitor your behaviour for fear of misinterpretation at all times.
"I always believed that (because) there were so few girls in bands, that they shouldn't act like groupies and they shouldn't drink with the headliners, ever, because it would look bad on girls. I've always had those rules. And a lot of people wouldn't agree with me, because they'd say, 'Well, we shouldn't have to (monitor our behaviour) as females.' Yeah, well, too bad -- you do."
It's ironic, of course. While many parents would probably take one look -- or listen -- to Bif and decide she's an immoral force of demonic power that will surely rot and ruin impressionable minds with her raucous rock 'n' roll, Bif remains intensely aware of the effect she can have on young fans. And that point hit home during her recent summertime slot on the Edgefest tour.
"An Edgefest audience is very young -- there's a lot of kids under 18," says the 28-year-old singer/songwriter, who performs at Call the Office tomorrow night. "And for someone like me, I really watch what I say and also say things on purpose. Like the word 'period' -- I just believe in demystifying taboo topics that are female related. If girls that are 15 are going to listen to me, if I can inspire them in any way to have a tiny percentage more self-esteem, or take the mystery out of how they or society feels about their bodies, I'm up for up it, man. I'm totally up for that."
Although often provocative, opinionated and frankly funny in conversation, Bif says she has no desire to foist her lifestyle on others.
"My decision to be a non-drinking, non-drug-using person was a personal choice," she says. "And I believe everything else should be a personal choice, too, except for like . . . (she laughs) murder."
The adopted child of Methodist missionaries -- she was born in India to unmarried students -- Bif grew up in Kentucky and Winnipeg as Beth Torbert. After studying theatre at the University of Winnipeg, Bif began her performing career as a standup comic.
After spending several years singing with several underground bands, she released a self-titled debut album on her own label in 1994. The album was later picked up by Montreal-based Aquarius Records, re-mixed and re-released two years ago. Her most recent album, I Bificus, came out earlier this year.
Bif just finished an eight-week tour of Europe, where she performed in Germany, Switzerland and Austria -- including a concert for 80,000 spectators at a festival outside Nuremberg, Germany, with Prodigy and Smashing Pumpkins.
Her London gig is a coming-home of sorts. Two of her band members -- guitarist Doug McCarvell and drummer Mike Sage -- are former Londoners, whom some may remember from their band Genocide (later renamed Face the Pain).